•K'Ogalo will be returning to the cut-throat premier continental inter-club showpiece after staying out in the cold last year, owing to a FIFA ban.
•Otieno trashed claims by a section of Kenyan fans that Gor might struggle in the tournament because the local topflight league giants have deteriorated in standards.
Image: HANDOUT
Gor Mahia FC captain Philemon Otieno feels the club boasts sufficient ammunition to intimidate the more fancied African giants in the Caf Champions League.
K'Ogalo will be returning to the cut-throat premier continental inter-club showpiece after staying out in the cold last year, owing to a FIFA ban.
In an exclusive interview on Tuesday, Otieno said the 21-time Kenyan champions will pull off a remarkable run in the contest that kicks off in mid-August.
"We are the mighty K'Ogalo and nothing scares us. I'd like to thank the entire Gor Mahia fraternity including the players, the management and our fans for the concerted efforts directed towards winning the Kenyan Premier League," Otieno remarked.
"We now have a glorious opportunity to fly the nation's flag on the continental stage and I believe we have everything it takes to perform well," he added.
Otieno trashed claims by a section of Kenyan fans that Gor might struggle in the tournament because the local topflight league giants have deteriorated in standards.
"I'd like to differ with them because the season was very competitive and at some point, it was difficult to predict the winner as the top three spots kept shifting in favour of various clubs," he stated.
Otieno spoke a day after the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) announced key changes relating to the 2024–2025 Interclub season.
"The 2024–2025 CAF Interclub season, the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup, will kick off with the preliminary round scheduled between August 16–18, 2024," the Cairo-based body wrote in a statement.
The group stages will take place between October and December 2024 while the knockout phase and finals will be between March and May 2025.
Caf also confirmed the 12 highest-ranked member associations who will be eligible to enter two clubs in both the Champions League and the Confederation Cup.
They include Algeria, Angola, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, RD Congo, South Africa, Sudan, Tunisia, and Tanzania.
Subsequently, the continental governing body officially opened the registration portal on the Caf Competitions Management System (CMS) where member associations will confirm the names of their respective representatives in the two competitions.
There are four registration window periods. Players participating in the preliminary round from July 1 to July 20. Players participating in the second preliminary round will be confirmed between July 21 and August 31.
The participating clubs will confirm their lineups for the group stages in September. They will also have a chance to beef up their squads in January with leeway to add a maximum of seven more players, including four replacements.
As opposed to the preceding years, clubs eliminated in the second round of the Caf Champions League will not be granted a lifeline in the Caf Confederation Cup.
Clubs that advance from the second preliminary round of the Caf Confederation Cup will punch direct tickets to the competition's group stage.